A Broken World
by ameliagianna
Summary: Oneshots
1. On Top of the World

The short, stout man remained hunched over the microscope as he spoke, not looking up from the eyepiece.

"This one's a doozy," he says to no one in particular.

"But can you do it?" Max asks, growing impatient.

She, Logan, and Alec had managed to track down an ex-Manticore scientist somewhere in a rural Idaho bordertown. He had moved on long before the virus was created, or even before Max and the others escaped in 2009. But they figured he was one of the last people in the country who may be able to make heads or tails of the virus.

"Give me a week, I'll see what I can come up with."

"How much?" Logan asks.

Dr. Oliver Murphy finally looks up, giving the trio an appraising glance.

"Fifteen," he states.

"Grand?" Alec asks, incredulous.

"Done," Max says quickly.

They had managed to save up just over that in the past several months, between the three of them. Alec had insisted on helping, telling Max it was his way of repaying her for busting him out of Manticore.

"_And the sooner you and Logan can run off into the sunset, the sooner we can give up this damned charade_," he had told her.

Alec had not taken the idea of the 'relationship' well in the beginning, and now that almost everyone (except for Logan) knew it was a front, he was eager to be free of his 'boyfriend' responsibilities.

And even though she was 'with' Alec, Max was hoping Logan still wanted her. He hadn't outright shown it—but she suspected that had to do with him respecting her and Alec.

It had helped that Original Cindy and Logan talked, and she kept on insisting that "brother Logan was still holding out" for Max.

"Normally, I insist on an advance of half, but I'm willing to drop it to five. Will that be a problem?"

Logan glances at Max, who gives a slight nod.

"That will work fine," he says solemnly. "I'll go out to the car."

"This is unbelievable," Alec says under his breath as Logan heads for the door.

Max, standing closest to him, leans in and hisses "Shut up."

While Logan's outside, Alec turns to her. "Look, I know you and him need this cure. I'm surprised he hasn't sacrificed himself to let you jump him already. But are you sure we can't go to someone else? Someone who isn't charging _fifteen grand_?"

"We have enough," she says. "And this may be our last shot. So keep your opinions to yourself, okay?"

"Fine," he sighs. "But I don't think anyone's ever paid so much to get laid."

Max grits her teeth and swings a fist. It lands dead center of his bicep, and Alec stumbles slightly but doesn't react otherwise. "Jesus, calm down," he says.

Dr. Murphy watches the display with idle curiosity. "I thought _you_ two were…" He holds up his hand and waggles his fingers at them, implying.

"We are," Max says quickly. "We just…bicker. A lot. Have since we were paired at Manticore."

"Ah," the doctor says with raised eyebrows. "Breeding partners."

"Yep," Max says through her teeth.

"We didn't do that while I was at Manticore, but it was considered. I guess it wasn't such a dead-end after all." He looks back at the microscope, jots a few notes on the pad beside him without pulling his eyes away.

Logan comes back in a few seconds later, carrying a smaller duffel than the one they came with. He places it on the desk in front of the doctor.

"Five now, the rest when we get the antivirus."

He unzips the bag, checks the money and slides it into his lap. "Thank you. I'll call you when it's finished."

"We'll be waiting," Logan says, and the three turn to leave.

When they're just about to reach the door, the doctor calls out.

"Maybe when you come back, you'll tell me why Manticore hated you so much."

Max looks back over her shoulder. "Maybe."

* * *

When Logan had booked the motel where they were staying, he booked two rooms. One for him, and another for Max and Alec.

Each room only had one bed.

When Logan had left them alone to go check out his own room, Max quickly announces, "You get the floor."

Alec throws up his hands and says, "Of course, _dear_. Whatever you say."

She throws a pillow and he catches it. "Goodnight, _darling_."

Just then, there's a knock at the door. "It's Logan," he calls through the wood.

Max shoots a glare at Alec, who tosses the pillow on the bed and sits back, picking up the remote.

She undoes the chain and opens the door.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Hope I'm not interrupting," he says, a little embarrassed.

Max coughs. "Not at all."

"Oh. Can we talk?" Logan asks.

Max tilts her head slightly. "Sure," she says, closing the door behind her.

"Walk?"

She nods.

Moving down the hall, Logan asks, "Do you think this'll work?"

Max takes a second to think about it. "I don't know. This might be our last shot."

"What happens if it doesn't work?"

"Then we keep looking," she says immediately.

He stops, turns to her but doesn't get any closer. "And if it does?"

She stops as well, glances at him quickly before looking back down the hall. "Then everything will go back to how it was."

What in the hell that means, neither of them know.

* * *

_In Logan's apartment, Max walks up behind him in the kitchen. "What's cookin'?"_

_He turns from the stove. "Chicken," he says with a smile._

"_Yum," she says, sliding herself up onto the counter beside him._

_He moves in front of her, stepping closer. "Max," he says quietly._

_He's too close, but she can't push him away, doesn't want to push him away. He rests his hands on her knees, pulling them around his waist._

"_What are you doing?" she asks._

"_Max, I love you," he whispers. His hand goes to her face, cradling her cheek._

_And nothing happens. He doesn't get sick. The virus is gone._

_She can finally touch him again, kiss him again._

"_I love you, too," she sighs._

_Her hands on his neck, she pulls him in closer. They kiss, slowly. His hand slides around the back of her neck, resting over where the barcode is inked into her skin._

"_I love you," he says again, breathless against her lips._

_She kisses him harder, wrapping her legs around his torso._

"_Max," he says, but he doesn't sound right._

_When she pulls away, his eyes are watering and he's flushed, warm to the touch. He wheezes, struggling to breathe._

"_No," she whispers, and his legs start to give out beneath him._

"_No, no, no, no, no!"_

_But it's too late; he's crumpled to the floor, the virus killing him._

"_Logan!" she screams._

* * *

Max wakes, her body shaking both involuntarily and by Alec's hand on her shoulder.

"Max, wake up," he says.

She opens her eyes, jerks upright in bed.

"You were yelling," he says.

Alec's sitting on the edge of the mattress, not wearing a shirt. It's still dark outside the windows.

"I was dreaming," she chokes out. Tears prick at her eyes, threatening to spill.

"Sounds like a nightmare. You okay?" he asks.

Max feels overwhelmed, both by her dream and Alec's presence, reminding her in her dazed state of Ben, her brother who had the same face.

She can't manage anything but to shake her head, squeezing her eyes shut against the headache of emotion.

Alec pulls her against him, embracing her. "It's okay," he says quietly.

It's too much, him holding her, but she doesn't have the strength to fight.

The last thing Max remembers is falling asleep in Alec's arms.

* * *

The week passes slowly, with tension between all of the three lingering.

Max eventually told Alec about the dream, and he just nodded and listened. He agreed not to tell Logan. Logan and Max didn't speak very often, only when necessary and to exchange greetings.

Max had the nightmare again and again, and somehow Alec ended up sleeping in the bed so he could wake her up before she started screaming. She didn't cry again, though, and Alec stayed on his side of the bed.

Max calls Cindy after a few nights and tells her, too.

Once, Max goes with Logan to get gas and he asks how she's doing.

"Fine," she answers. The way she says it, he doesn't ask again.

But, finally, the week is over and Logan gets the call from Dr. Murphy.

"He says it's ready," he tells them at their door. "He says he's doing a final test tonight and we can go back tomorrow."

Max smiles as he tells them, and he smiles back. Alec smiles, too, but neither of them notices.

* * *

Their final night in Idaho, Max doesn't dream. She wakes refreshed, and so does Alec.

All three of them are in a particularly good mood for such an early morning until they get in the car.

Suddenly, nerves kick in.

Max fights to stop her hands from trembling as they walk back up to the doctor's door.

Alec knocks, and a voice calls from within. "It's open!"

They all take a silent deep breath as Alec opens the door.

Max gets her injection first, the liquid a bright and eerie green.

Logan's, on the other hand, is a mellow amber and he gets a smaller needle.

_Figures_, she thinks. _I do have the virus_.

"All right," the doctor says. "Now just wait forty-eight hours and it'll have multiplied in your bloodstream."

"How will we know it worked?" Alec asks.

"Well, if she touches him and nothing happens, it worked."

"What if it doesn't?" Logan asks.

"Then you're screwed. Now, what did you do to piss of Manticore so bad?" he asks Max.

She inhales, rubbing her thumb over the tender spot inside her elbow. "I lived."

* * *

Somehow, the drive home is longer than their week in Idaho. Or, at least, it seems that way.

They stop for the night somewhere in eastern Washington, ending up in a single room with two beds.

Max and Alec end up sleeping in the same bed again, but only for a few hours and careful of keeping their distance. Thankfully, she doesn't have a nightmare.

* * *

The next morning, they're back in the car. Max sits in the back, away from both Alec and Logan, wanting some time to clear her head.

She falls asleep and several hours later, they're back in Seattle.

She checks her watch, and Logan sees this. "It's been about thirty hours."

"Oh," she says quietly.

* * *

Back in Terminal City, Max quickly retreats to the solitude of her bunk.

Original Cindy is waiting there for her.

"Girl, why aren't you and Logan doin' your thing?"

She sighs, removes her jacket. "We have eighteen hours left before we can test if it worked."

"It worked," Cindy insists.

Max sits down next to her. "I hope so."

* * *

Eighteen hours later, Logan's watch beeps at him. It scares him.

Joshua rushes in. "What's that?"

Logan smiles at him. "Time's up."

Joshua grins. "Where's Max, where's Little Fella?"

Logan shakes his head. "I think I may know."

* * *

It's first light when Max realizes the forty-eight hours are up.

She looks out at the sunset on the horizon, pink-orange against the outline of the city.

Well, most of the outline of the city. She can't see the most recognizable landmark because she happens to be sitting on it.

The breeze blows past her and she smiles, completely at peace.

She doesn't open her eyes when she hears him, knowing she doesn't need to. She waits until he's sitting beside her, his posture matching hers with his arms propped up on his knees.

"So," he says.

She smiles. "So.".

"I knew you would be here," he says, and she doesn't need to look to know he's smiling, too.

"I was waiting for the sunrise."

"It's beautiful," he says. "I always feel like I'm on top of the world up here."

She turns to him, catches his silhouette against the marbled morning light.

"Maybe we should head down," she says. "I don't know if I can carry you."

He laughs. "Hopefully, there won't be a need."

"Yeah," she agrees.

They sit for a moment, doing nothing.

Then, when the sun finally clears the horizon line, Max holds her hand out to Logan.

"Here goes nothin'," he whispers.

"I think Alec would disagree," she says, and he hesitates. "More like fifteen grand," she clarifies.

"Oh," he says. "Yeah."

"Before this, can I tell you something?" Max asks.

"Shoot."

"I lied," she says, "about Alec. We were never…together. It just seemed like a way to help you move on."

He chuckles. "I know."

"Really?" she asks.

"Yeah. Cindy _accidentally_ let it slip."

"What? When?"

"This morning, when I went looking for you in TC."

Max nods, unsure of what else to say.

This time, it's Logan who offers his hand. "It's okay," he says, looking her in the eye.

"I know," she whispers, reaching past his hand for his cheek, and pulling his face closer to hers.

She hesitates millimeters from his lips.

A minute passes, and nothing happens.

"Thank god," he whispers before pulling her into him.

* * *

**A/N: Rediscovering my love for Dark Angel gives me serious Max/Logan feels. I rewatched Season 2 not that long ago, and I'm still pissed they didn't get to continue the story. There are books, but I can never track them down in any bookstore and whenever I'm on Amazon I don't have the money. It's my goal to acquire Season 1 and the books this year, though. Review?**


	2. Borrowed Time

"How much longer do we have?" he asks.

She checks his watch, grimacing as the numbers roll in the wrong direction. Like time is against her.

"Nine hours, twenty-four minutes." The words are acrid in her mouth, but she tries not to show it.

They've stopped moving, Logan's grip on her tightens, and for a moment, she forgets about the virus.

"Max?" he asks, only inches away. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you…for a long time."

Her pulse races. "Yeah," she breathes, "me too."

When he doesn't speak for a moment, she whispers, "You first."

He smiles minutely. "Max, I—"

He pauses, as if waiting for something to interrupt him. Maybe for the world to end.

"I'm in love with you, Logan," she whispers, taking the words right out of his mouth.

He chuckles slightly. "I thought you said I was supposed to go first."

"You took too long," she murmurs, and kisses him.

The kiss ignites something in her that spreads like a wildfire, and she remembers what they had said earlier.

"_So we can touch and nothing will happen?"_

"_I don't know about 'nothing'…"_

Suddenly, there is no virus. There is no Manticore, no broken world or secret government agency trying to kill her.

There is her and there is him.

The world could burn around them and they wouldn't notice, wouldn't care.

* * *

**A/N: Slightly different (and, in my opinion, slightly better) ending to that scene in 'Borrowed Time'. Likely I'll continue this, but not right away.**


End file.
